2.—The Amelioration of Land.

Society must consider the land in its totality, its topographical condition, its mountains, plains, forests, lakes, rivers, ponds, heathers, swamps and moors. Besides the geographical location, which is unalterable, this topographical condition exerts a certain influence upon the climate and the nature of the soil. This is a vast field of activity, where much experience is still to be gained and much experimentation still to be performed. Until now the state has accomplished but little along these lines. Only moderate means have been applied to such tasks of civilization, and even if the state desired to adopt effective measures, the large landed proprietors, who have a decisive voice in legislation, would prevent the carrying out of such measures. Without interference with private property nothing effectual could be done. But since the state is founded on the “sanctity” of private property, and since the large owners of private property are its chief supporters, it is prevented from proceeding in the manner that has been designated. It would be necessary to undertake the amelioration of land on a grand scale, to plant forests here and cut down forests there, to irrigate and to drain; to mix different kinds of soil, to break ground and to plant, in order to attain the highest degree of fertility.

A highly important factor in the amelioration of the land would be an extensive system of rivers and canals, to be conducted according to scientific principles. The question of cheap transportation by water, so important to present-day society, would be of minor importance to the new society. Nevertheless transportation by water will be regarded as a very convenient means of transportation, requiring the least expenditure in strength and material. But of the greatest importance an extensive system of rivers and canals will be for purposes of irrigation and drainage, for the transportation of manure and other materials for the amelioration of the land, and for the distribution of the crops.

It has been determined by experience that countries where water is scarce, suffer much more from cold winters and hot summers than countries having an abundant water supply. For this reason maritime countries rarely suffer from extremes of temperature. Such extremes of temperature are neither advantageous nor agreeable to plants or human beings. An extensive system of canals, combined with measures for the preservation of forests, would have a beneficial influence. Such systems of canals and large basins, to collect and preserve masses of water, would prove especially beneficial, when the melting ice and snow, in spring, or heavy rain-falls cause rivers and streams to rise and to overflow their banks. The construction of similar canals and basins would be required for the mountain torrents. Floods, with their ravaging effects, would then become impossible. Extensive surfaces of water and the increased evaporation would probably also cause rain to fall more regularly. These improvements would also make it possible to establish pumps and lifting apparatus for an extensive irrigation of the land whenever necessary.

Wide stretches of arid land might be made fertile by artificial irrigation. Where at present the grazing sheep barely find sufficient nourishment and where, at best, only emaciated looking trees stretch their lean branches skyward, an abundance of crops might be raised and a dense population might obtain nourishment and enjoyment. It is, for instance, only a question of the amount of labor employed, to transform the stretches of sandy soil of the March, humorously called “the sand-box of the German Empire,” into an Eden of fertility. This was pointed out by one of the lecturers at the German agricultural exhibition, in Berlin, during the spring of 1894.[237] But the landowners of the March do not have sufficient means to undertake the building of canals, irrigation, amelioration of the land, etc., and so, just beyond the walls of the national capital wide stretches of land remain in a condition that will seem incredible to coming generations. On the other hand, by means of canalization, wide stretches of swamps, moor-land and marshes might be drained and won for cultivation; thus, in northern and southern parts of Germany, the canals might further be used for the breeding of fish, and small communities that are not located near rivers might use them to erect bathing establishments.[238]

A few examples will suffice to show the influence of irrigation. In the vicinity of Weissenfels, 7½ hectares of irrigated meadows yielded 480 cwt. of hay, while 5 hectares, located beside these, that were not irrigated, yielded only 32 cwt. The former produced more than ten times as much as the latter. Near Riesa, in Saxony, 65 acres of irrigated meadows increased the net proceeds from 5,850 to 11,100 marks. By an investment of 124,000 marks for irrigation of the arid lands at the right bank of the Lippe, an annual gain of approximately 400,000 marks was obtained. The amelioration of the land undertaken in Lower Austria cost about one million crowns and increased the value of the produce by about six million crowns. The expensive improvements paid. Other parts of Germany, besides the March have an exceedingly sandy soil, and here the harvests are only fairly satisfactory, after a rainy summer. If these vicinities could be furrowed with canals, properly irrigated and ameliorated, they would shortly bring forth five and ten times their present amount. Examples are at hand in Spain, showing that well-irrigated soil brought forth 37 times as much as soil that had not been irrigated. So water is all that is needed to bring forth fresh masses of nourishment from the soil.

Hardly a year passes in which not one or the other of the German states and provinces is ravaged by floods. Large tracts of the most fertile land are carried away by the force of the water; others are littered with stones, sand and rubbish, and are made unfertile for years to come. Entire orchards that have required decades to be grown are uprooted. Houses, bridges, streets and dams are washed away, railroads are ruined and human lives are sacrificed, flocks perish and crops are destroyed. Wide stretches of land that are exposed to frequent ravages from floods are not cultivated at all, or only slightly, since their owners do not wish to suffer constant loss. Devastation of the forests, especially on the mountains, and particularly by private owners, increases the danger from floods. The mad devastation of the forests, prompted by a desire for profit, has led to a diminution of the fertility of the soil in the German provinces of Russia and Pomerania, in Corinthia and Styria, as also in Italy, France, Spain, Russia, and other countries.

Frequent floods are the result of the devastation of forests on the mountains. The inundations of the Rhine, the Oder, and the Vistula are ascribed mainly to the devastation of forests in Switzerland, Galicia, and Poland. The same causes lead to the frequent inundations in Italy, especially of the River Po. As a result of the same causes, Madeira, large portions of Spain, the most fertile provinces of Russia, and stretches of land in Asia Minor, which were at one time fertile and blooming, have lost much of their fertility.[239]

At last even bourgeois society has begun to recognize that, in this respect, it will no longer do to maintain the policy of “laissez faire,” and that, by sensible measures, applied on a large scale, the destructive forces can be transformed into constructive ones. So the construction of large dams was undertaken to collect immense quantities of water and to utilize the water-power to supply electric power to industry and agriculture. The Bavarian state especially has undertaken to dam the mountain streams on a grand scale to obtain power for the running of electric railways and other industrial undertakings. Agrarian old Bavaria is thereby rapidly becoming a modern industrial state.